Box Score DENVER The University of Denver women’s basketball team led at halftime but fell to No. 10 Duke, 57-37, on Sunday afternoon in Magness Arena in front of a DU women’s basketball record crowd of 6,635.
It was the second-largest basketball crowd in Magness Arena history, trailing only the 7,186 fans that witnessed the Pioneer men defeat Wyoming on Jan. 2, 2006.
“I think we played Duke very well,” head coach Pam Tanner said. “There was not quit in us but we ended but beating ourselves. If some of those wide-open shots had fallen in the second half the press that Duke was running would have come off and changed the tempo of the game. It was a great first game to play. The fact we held Duke to 57 points, I couldn’t be happier with. One of the many reasons we played Duke is that we wouldn’t be scared of playing schools like Middle Tennessee later in the year. And I think we proved we weren’t scared.”
After falling behind 2-0 to begin the game, Denver reeled off a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead. The Pioneers (0-1) maintained the lead and stretched it to eight points on a three-pointer by senior Brooke Meyer (Denver, Colo.). Meyer recorded her second three-pointer of the half to put DU up 15-11 at 8:34.
Duke (1-0) pulled within two at 8:23 on a layup by Chante Black. Junior Nnenna Akotaobi (Thornton, Colo.) hit a three to put DU up 18-13. Duke knotted the game at 25-25 on a layup by Jasmine Thomas before Meyer was fouled on a three-point attempt and went 2-of-3 from the free throw line. DU went into the lockerroom up 27-25.
The Pioneers hit 6-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half, while Duke hit just 1-of-6. The Blue Devils pulled down 20 rebounds in the half to DU’s 14. The Pioneers hit just 42.9 percent from the free throw line.
The Pioneers came out slow in the second half, scoring the first two points of the half before Duke went on a 19-0 over the next 11:39. Duke took its first lead since opening the game 2-0 when Abby Waner hit a three-pointer to give the Blue Devils the 32-29 lead. The Pioneers were 0-of-7 in the first 12:06 of the second half with had nine turnovers, and ended the half shooting 3-of-23 and 0-of-11 from three-point range.
Akotaobi led DU with nine points and Meyer contributed eight. Akotaobi and senior Alisha Godette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) pulled down five rebounds apiece. Godette had a game-high five steals as well.
ThunderRidge High School alumni Abby Waner had a game-high 16 points for Duke, while her sister Emily Waner had three points.
DU heads to USAFA,
Colo., to play Air Force at Clune Arena on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
